Monthly Archives: September 2014

Chelsea Manning sues government to access recommended medical treatment

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Chelsea Manning has filed a federal lawsuit against Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and other officials with the Department of Defense and Department of the Army over the governments failure to provide necessary medical treatment for her gender dysphoria, a condition with which she was originally diagnosed by Army doctors more than four years ago, according to a statement on the legal challenge. Earlier this summer, Hagel approved the Armys recommendation to begin rudimentary level treatment, including allowing Manning to dress in accordance with female grooming standards and access hormone therapy, but has yet to make good on the announcement.

Manning, who is currently serving a 35 year prison sentence for leaking documents to WikiLeaks, is seeking a court order to obtain hormone therapy and access to other medical treatments recommended by her doctors. The government continues to deny Ms. Mannings access to necessary medical treatment for gender dysphoria, without which she will continue to suffer severe psychological harms, said Chase Strangio, an attorney in the ACLU Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender project who is also co-counsel on the case. Such clear disregard of well-established medical protocols constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

Last month, Manning also released a statement demanding the treatment recommended by her doctors. This time last year I publicly asked that I be provided with a treatment plan, to bring my body more in line with my gender identity, she said. Unfortunately, despite silence, and then lip service, the military has not yet provided me with any such treatment.

In addition to access to medical treatment, the suit also demands that Manning be allowed to follow female grooming standards while in prison. In my daily life I am reminded of this when I look at the name on my badge, the first initial sewed onto my clothing, the hair and grooming standards that I adhere to and the titles and courtesies used by the staff, she said.

The National Commission on Correctional Health Care and the American Psychological Association support providing treatment to prisoners diagnosed with gender dysphoria. And advocates have continued to pressure the military to lift its ban on trans soldiers serving openly, and to provide trans-related medical care to all soldiers who require it.

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Chelsea Manning sues government to access recommended medical treatment

Chelsea Manning, convicted WikiLeaks soldier, sues federal government

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Chelsea Manning, the U.S. Army private convicted of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, is suing the federal government to receive appropriate medical care for the gender disorder she was diagnosed with in 2010, the ACLU said on Tuesday.

Manning, who formerly went by the name Bradley Manning, was convicted of multiple counts of espionage for leaking more than 700,000 wartime documents and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks, in a move that sparked debates about the Obama administration's prosecution of whistle-blowers.

In the suit, the American Civil Liberties Union contends that Army medical personnel diagnosed Manning with gender dysphoria in 2010, an identity disorder where a person rejects the gender they were assigned with at birth.

Manning is suing to receive hormone therapy, permission to follow female grooming standards and access to a doctor trained to deal with her condition.

"The government continues to deny Ms. Mannings access to necessary medical treatment for gender dysphoria, without which she will continue to suffer severe psychological harms," Chase Strangio, an attorney with the ACLU Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender project, said in a statement. "Such clear disregard of well-established medical protocols constitutes cruel and unusual punishment."

Calls to the Department of Defense seeking comment were not immediately returned.

The suit contends the Army has taken little to no action in response to several requests from Manning to be treated as a female and to receive proper treatment for gender dysphoria.

Manning had previously petitioned to be transferred to a civilian prison facility, but Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel rejected the Army's request to have Manning moved, according to the lawsuit.

Manning is also trying to obtain appropriate psychological therapy, according to the lawsuit. The only psychologist made available to Manning has admitted in written statements that she is not qualified to treat gender dysphoria, according to the court papers.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Strangio said the military's response to Manning's requests for aid have been virtually non-existent.

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Chelsea Manning, convicted WikiLeaks soldier, sues federal government

Joseph Gordon Levitt Reportedly Offered Edward Snowden Role

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been offered the role of Edward Snowden in Oliver Stones, tentatively titled, The Snowden Files. Snowden, a former U.S. intelligence analyst, released more classified documents than anyone since Daniel Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War.

A Variety source claims that Stone offered Gordon-Levitt the lead role, and he accepted it. However, they are still working on negotiations. So no formal contracts have been signed, but both men want the deal to go through.

Stone is currently working on the script, and will be directing the film. He will also be producing it with Eric Kopeloff and Moritz Borman. The Snowden Files will be based on the novel Time of the Octopus by Anatoly Kucherena, Snowdens Russian lawyer. Its considered the closest thing to a documented account of the events that happened after Snowden released the NSA documents. The Snowden Files will also be based on journalist Luke Hardings book The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the Worlds Most Wanted Man.

If Stone and Gordon-Levitt reach a deal soon, the Snowden Files could start filming as early as December, with a 2015 release. Meanwhile Gordon-Levitt continues to stay busy. He recently filmed The Walk, a film about Philippe Petit. Petit was a french high-wire artist who in 1974 attempted to cross the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Levitt is also currently filming an untitled Christmas Eve movie with 50/50 co-star Seth Rogen.

Both films have a 2015 release. This summer, Gordon-Levitt played Johnny in the Sin City sequel, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

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Joseph Gordon Levitt Reportedly Offered Edward Snowden Role

Google Fires Back at Tim Cook, Says Android L Will Protect Users With Encryption

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Both Apple, Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOG) are stepping up their game when it comes to mobile encryption.

I. Don't Spy on Me

On the eve of the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6+, Apple CEO Timothy Cook countered accusations that Apple assisted in government spying, stating that Apple firmly believed in protecting client privacy and was incorporating state-of-the-art encryption into iOS 8 to protect all of your data.

Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your passcode and therefore cannot access this data. So it's not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8.

But much like Apple's privacy makeover with iOS 8, Google is planning a privacy ramp-up of its own with the upcoming Android L (presumably Android 5.0).

II. Android L to Feature Strong Encryption as Well

In a statement to The Washington Post, company spokeswoman Niki Christoff responded to Tim Cook's criticism, saying it was invalid as Google too was adding encryption in its next major release (Android L).

The report says that this security step-up is not a reactionary move towards Apple. Rather it's been in the works for many months.

III. Android vs. iOS: The Encryption Story

Digging further into Apple and Google's relative security, both firms are relatively comparable from a features standpoint, using the latest and greatest ARM Holdings plc (LON:ARM) 64-bit processing technologies to accelerate strong encryption of local data.

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Google Fires Back at Tim Cook, Says Android L Will Protect Users With Encryption

Android L to get default encryption – report

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After Apple's iPhone 6 and iOS 8, Google will soon enable encryption by default on devices running Android L, the upcoming latest version of its operating system for mobile devices.

It quoted Google spokeswoman Niki Christoff as saying encryption in the next Android release "will be enabled by default out of the box, so you won't even have to think about turning it on.

For over three years Android has offered encryption, and keys are not stored off of the device, so they cannot be shared with law enforcement, she said.

But the report also said it could take months at least before most Android devices are encrypted by default.

Also, while the feature will mean more privacy for users, it will make it harder for law enforcers to gain access to personal data kept on smartphones.

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Android L to get default encryption – report